Lost In Thought
by SocialAuthor
Summary: Almost three years after the Elysian Fields incident, Castiel brings a message to the Winchesters. Hoping that they will put the past behind them, he guides the two to a warehouse which holds one of the greatest challenges they will ever face...
1. A Bleeding Message

Sam and Dean had been sitting in their motel room, both exhausted from finishing off a vampire nest, until a certain angel interrupted their peace. Both turned their heads towards their friend, watching him from their individual beds. Castiel's shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a gaping wound in the centre of his chest, blood was spread throughout his dark hair and he was shaking violently as he tried to force a sentence to pass his lips.

"I-I foun-" However, he was unable to finish his sentence as he collapsed and fell into unconsciousness.

"Cas? Cas!" Dean tried to call out to his friend as he rushed forward to catch him, Sam following closely behind, as fell to his knees and took the angel in his arms, he dragged him towards the bed closest to them before lying him down. Spreading open Castiel's trench coat, Dean ordered his brother to bring him anything that could be help heal his wound. The older of the Winchesters sat on the bed containing the angel and let his hand run through the bloodied, matted hair in a comforting manner, however it was more to assure Dean than his unconscious friend. After a few minutes Sam came rushing towards them with the two with an assortment of items which he thought could be of use. Despite Castiel's unconscious state, Dean squeezed his hand a single time, as if he were awake to feel it, before letting go to stand next to his brother, who was standing over the two.

"Hey, Sammy! Hold him down will ya?" Sam quickly grabbed hold of his friends arm, so that he wouldn't thrash around if he gained consciousness during the procedure, after nodding towards his brother, Dean began.

Carefully lifting up Castiel to remove his bloodied trench coat, along with the blood soaked shirt, Dean folded the angels stained shirt and used it to wrap around the long wound as blood seeped from his chest. Dean pulled it as tightly as he could before tying it off so that the amount of blood spilled could be reduced until he could stitch up the wound.

"Sam, what do you think happened?"

"Maybe he just had a run in with a monster…" Sam began to trail off as his older brother stood up and glared at him.

"A monster can't fuckin' bust an angel! I've never a single son of a bitch who can hurt one of those winged dicks like this!" Obviously enraged by his last comment, Sam stepped back and let Dean take care of the angel.

Unravelling the cloth, Dean checked over the wound and saw that it was nowhere near as bad as when Castiel had arrived, most of the blood now dried and clinging to his bare chest revealing the real cut, which was honestly small than he expected it to be. However, he decided to stitch up his friend just in case, especially considering that he had arrived almost unconscious. Grabbing hold of the small sowing needle and dental floss, Dean got to work…

~Lost In Thoughts~

A few hours had passed since they had finished helping Castiel, and Dean was leaning against the counter near the doorway while Sam had begun researching in hopes of finding some more sightings in the local area, and now moans had begun emitting from the newly awoken angel.

 _Thank God, it's been fucking hours…_

"Where…Where am I?" As the angel shifted his arm to rub his head Dean rushed towards him and quickly grabbed a hold of it, knowing that he would strain his stitches and cause himself more pain than he was already in.

"You're in our motel room, you just flew in here and don't move." The words fell out of his mouth as he lay Castiel's arm against the bed again. While Dean moved to sit next to him, Castiel looked at Dean and then to Sam before mumbling incoherent words.

"Hey Cas, Cas, you okay?"

"I found him."

"What?" Sam glanced over at the two, highly confused by what he meant by 'him'.

"Hey Cas, we don't have time to play the pronoun game, kay? Just tell us." Once Dean had finished his sentence, Sam walked over to the two as his curiosity grew, both brothers equally confused as to who this man was.

"Cas, who is this guy you're telling us about?"

"…" The angel paused for a minute, unsure of how to answer Dean's question.

"C'mon Cas, you can tell us anything."

"Gabriel." Sam's eyes widened in shock and Dean raised a brow.

"You mean the trickster, archangel Ga-"

"That son of a bitch?" The oldest of the Winchester's spoke up half way through his younger brother's statement.

"Yes, my brother, he's back."


	2. Trying To Get The Truth

Sitting down on the available bed, Sam rubbed his face as he tried to understand what Castiel was saying. Gabriel had been dead for years, or at least they all thought he was, and now he just reappears? However, one thing which did cross his mind was the idea that it could just be the freed vessel, but that thought quickly disappeared after he remembered how many people he had seen die because they had been injured while being used as a vessel, and considering Gabriel had been killed by the Devil's hand, he was certain that the man was dead. Glancing up from his current position, he saw Dean sitting on the edge of their friend's bed while he also tried to face the fact that they not only had an injured angel on their hands (with no clue how it happened) but also that the archangel who was determined to make them say 'yes' was back from the dead. After the three had sat in a reflective silence for a few minutes, Dean decided to speak up and ask the questions that they had pondered on for the last ten minutes.

"Hey Cas, can I, um, ask you somethings?"

"What would you like to know?"

"One, how'd you know your dick of a brother was alive, and two, what happened to put you in the state you're currently in?" Castiel took a deep breath before moving so that he was resting against the bed's frame, wincing as the stitches strained, and his arms were crossed against his chest.

"Well, which one do you want answered first?" Taken back by the fact Castiel was so willing to answer, Sam blinked a couple of times, before remembering that it was Dean who was talking and that the angel was so in love with him that he go as far as to jump into a pit of holy fire for the man.

"Well, what I want to know is how you're in such a fucking mess."

"That is a...a reasonable question. I had been told that there were two angels in a warehouse and that a dangerous fight had taken place. I felt like I needed to see who it was because of how most of my brothers and sisters had been killed during the war between Raphael and I, and I didn't want to lose any more of my family." The side of Dean's mouth twitched slightly as he was reminded of when he and Sam had betrayed their friend and it appeared as though Castiel had been having similar thoughts as tears began to build up.

"Hey Cas, you don't have to saying anything else if you don't want to, okay?" Obviously Dean wasn't the only one who noticed. Castiel nodded, using the sleeve of his stained trench coat to wipe away tears that threatened to spill, as looked down at his lap.

"No, no it's fine. Once I had reached the warehouse I hid in a nearby forest to see who was there but after a while I thought it was safe and approached the building, I should've known that it was never a clever idea to go anywhere close to that place, the angel closest to the entrance turned around and saw me…" The angel stopped, fidgeting with his hands as he looked up to the ceiling and rested his head against the wall behind him.

"The angels who had passed the information on to me must've mistaken the strong presence of grace for a group of angels...Not an archangel."

"Cas? Which one was it?" Sam spoke up for the first time in hours and looked at him, hazel eyes filled with concern.

"I-it was Lucifer." The room fell silent as the brothers stopped to process the information. Lucifer was back. After what seemed like an eternity of mental anguish, Dean raised his voice.

"Wait, are you sure?"

"Definite, he was using the same vessel and it couldn't be a the human he had taken over because of the damage that Lucifer has been afflicted with while using it. The man would just die." The angel shifted his view from the ceiling to the Winchesters.

"Okay, could you please continue?" Sam gave his friend an encouraging smile and waited for a reply.

"Yes, of course. I saw him and he had an angel blade in his hand and-"

"You meant an archangel blade...right?" Sam interrupted Castiel mid-sentence and leaned back while both of the men sitting on the bed in front of him glanced at him, before Dean turned his head to the angel and gave him a questioning look. Tears were once again building up and the angel quickly blinked them away before continuing.

"No, I meant an angel blade. I'll explain why he was using one later." Placing a hand on the angel's own, Dean gave him a comforting smile as he glanced at him.

"Lucifer slowly walked up to me, only saying brother, before swinging at me with the weapon. While I was dodging his attacks however I saw...I saw why he wasn't using his own blade…" Tears were now streaming down Castiel's face, pain was laced in his pale blue eyes, as he let those words leave his mouth. And when the older hunter tried to reach out to pull him into a hug he flinched. A pained cry left his mouth as the stitches in his stomach were strained and he started hyperventilating as agony shot through his body. Dean slowly made Castiel lean against his shoulder and ran a hand through his dark hair in hopes of bringing him out of his panicked state. Luckily for the hunters it had worked and for a while they remained in complete silence. Carefully bringing him into a hug, Dean whispered words of comfort against his hair as he tried his best to wipe away the tears from his friends face. Sam stood up and sat on the other side of the angel, and rested a hand on on his thigh in hopes of showing that he cared.

It looked like they would have to try again tomorrow.

~Lost In Thoughts~

After Castiel and Dean had fallen asleep on one another, Sam slowly stood up to turn off the bright lights so that he could also try and get some rest. Walking over to his empty bed, he caught a glimpse at the clock on the bedside table and groaned. It was three in the morning and they had the angel crash in at almost ten, which meant that they had been doing this for a maximum of five hours… As Sam rubbed his eyes he climbed into bed, as quietly as he could, a d instantly fell asleep, putting the drama of that day behind him until he had to face it again.


	3. Thinking It Over

When Sam woke up the next morning he immediately sat up, hoping the night before was nothing other than a bad dream, he looked around and spotted his brother and their friend embracing each other as they slept. The younger winchester fell back into his bed and covered his face as a frustrated groan escaped him and as they grew louder Dean and Castiel woke up, slowly rubbing their eyes as they did so.

"Hey, Cas." Dean rubbed his friends back as if to silently say that he needed some personal space, the angel quickly mumbling an apology as he stood up. While the two men sorted themselves out, Sam reached down to get a new set of clothes which he had neglected to change into the night before and walked into the bathroom.

While Sam changed, Dean had gotten up and started making a cup of coffee for himself and a couple of minutes his brother had returned, wearing another one of his plaid shirts.

"Mornin' Sammy."

"Morning Dean." Sam replied to his cheerful brother's greeting with a tired one, yawning mid sentence as Dean rolled his eyes and started drinking his coffee.

~Lost In Thought~

Within a few hours the trio were on the road and had already gotten something to eat at a diner they had passed early on in their journey. Looking behind him Sam saw Castiel staring through the window closest to him before turning to Dean, who was wearing a blank expression on his face, as they turned into a small town. The younger hunter didn't bother to look at the town they were turning into as he tried to think of any way Gabriel could've survived Lucifer, but another thing he was also thinking about was how Castiel knew Gabriel was alive. He could've turned to Lucifer's side, which was sadly the most likely reason considering how Lucifer could have somehow brainwashed him, and was present behind the Devil. Possibly torturing the other angel or archangel but at this point neither of the hunters knew the complete story or exactly who else was there due to their friend going into hysterics before he could finish telling them the whole story.

"Sammy. Sammy?" Dean had pulled into a motel parking lot two minutes ago and was growing impatient, so he had decided to try and get his brothers attention and after snapping his fingers in front of the younger man's face he was able bring him back to reality.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I was thinking."

"About?" Sam didn't respond to his question, worried about how Castiel would react to mentions of what happened to him.

"Dean?"

"Yes Cas?"

"Aren't you and your brother going on a hunt? If so, why are we at a motel and why didn't either of you research?"

"Cas we came here to talk." The older Winchester's voice lost all tone as he replied to the angel.

"Talk about what?" Dean didn't want to tell him while they were in the Impala, so he decided to avoid it until they were in a room and able to help the angel in a more suitable way if needed.

"I'll tell you when we get our room." As Dean left the car to pay for a room and get their keys, Castiel reached out to Sam and tapped his shoulder, hissing as the stitches were stretched, in order to get the taller man's attention.

"Yeah?"

"What does Dean mean by he'll tell me later?"

"Cas I don't entirely know what he's trying to imply from what he just said, so I guess we're going to have to wait for a bit." As the angel nodded Sam felt as if he had been stabbed, he had just lied to one of his most trusted friends and knew that the conversation they were going to have was going to end in tears, if the last time they talked about it was anything to go by.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, and Sam phasing out into thoughts of what might be revealed later, Dean returned with a new pair of keys in hand and banged on Sam's window, scaring the shit out of him and Castiel in the process

"Hey, bitch!"

"Jerk!" Roughly pushing open his door, Sam playfully punched his brother as they both looked back to see Castiel slowly getting out of Dean's car, trying his best not to cause himself further pain. Giving his friend an encouraging smile, Dean walked towards the angel and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

"So what ya say, we go inside or stand here all day?" Sam rolled his eyes before grabbing hold of the room key and checking it for the room number, once he had the information he walked up to the door, unlocked it and pushed it open.

"So? You going to stand there all day?" A smirk crept onto the younger winchester's face as his brother rolled his eyes and walked past him while Castiel simply gave him a confused look as he passed by, unable to understand what Dean was so irritated about.

~Lost In Thought~

After an half an hour of getting Castiel relaxed, the Winchesters were both sitting on one of the old beds and were facing their friend as they listened to him go back over the first half of what he had told them the other day, with a surprising lack of tears this time. Another half hour later, he was about to tell them what he saw behind Lucifer and what had freaked him out so much about the archangel blade, as he opened his mouth Sam prayed that his speculations were false and that Gabriel had saved their friend instead of turning to the dark side.

"So Lucifer's a-archangel blade was stabbed into another angel's wing, preventing it from moving or calling for the help of other angels as it was quickly losing grace, the only reason. I still don't think I know exactly who they were but if I'm guessing it was a powerful angel if Lucifer was going after them." Dean grimaced at the idea, he knew that to angels their wings were the most important thing and only ever shown to their 'mates' so the fact that he was violating another angel's privacy and harming it that way too made him sick to the stomach. Trying his best to ignore the images flashing through his head Dean raised a question.

"So you said you found the pipsqueak? How'd that happen because so far you've said nothing."

"One of the o-only reasons I came out of it alive was because I noticed Gabriel and called out to him. That was my mistake, he was obviously trying his best to stay hidden and hopefully get the angel out of there without any problem at all and just disappear. But I-" Castiel was obviously unaware of the tears streaming down his face, either that or he was trying his best to ignore the, and while Dean tried to look past them he spoke up.

"And why would that dick want to help an angel because last time we checked he was running from heaven not trying to help them." Castiel looked down at his hands and answered, tears covering them as he did so, avoiding eye contact as he remembered what it was like before he had abandoned that life.

"I honestly don't know if there were any specific reasons as to why he would help a specific angel considering most of them are trying to kill him for betraying our Father but during his time in heaven he hated seeing one of our brothers or sisters hurt and would do anything to help them. It could possibly be something from back then that caused him to act."  
"And Cas you said about you calling out for help? How would that affect anything?"  
"Lucifer turned around spotted him and he sort of froze…"

"What?" Sam raised an eyebrow, Gabriel was always very quick to react and he had never seen the guy scared or nervous about anything, not even when he was about to go head to head with his brother, what exactly had Lucifer done to him or had he done something to himself?

"Well he hadn't frozen for long, but it was enough to give Lucifer an advantage over him. I don't think I properly saw what happened next, it all happened so fast, I heard Gabriel screaming and then a bright light. Afterwards all that was left was the angel but they had been killed, Lucifer's blade was also taken with Gabriel." In Sam's mind the possibilities of what could have happened narrowed down so that only a few still remained as he processed the new information.

"What if he wasn't taken by Lucifer, you said he cared a lot for the other angels so maybe he was just angry at him for killing one his brothers or sisters and then just fled." Castiel lifted his head so that he was looking both of the boys in the eye once more.

"I-it is possible but the way Gabriel reacted was so much more different than himself and he still appeared to be in a daze when Lucifer approached him." Tears started to well up in Castiel's eyes as he considered the possibility he was taken away and would most likely be killed, the angel wiped away the tears from his eyes and stood up. Dean and Sam's eyes followed his every movement, concerned for their friend.

"I'll check the warehouse again and if I find anything I will let you know." And without even a chance to say goodbye, Castiel had flown off and neither of the winchesters knew when their friend was going to return or if he was even being honest about visiting the building.


	4. Location, Location, Location

After Castiel had flown away and left the brothers alone they both walked up to the fridge and grabbed a cold bottle of beer each despite it being mid-day, Dean's eyes widened and fell onto one of the beds as he watched Sam do the same.

"What just happened?" Dean looked at nothing as he began to drink and raised a brow, confusion apparent as he waited for a reply from his younger brother.

"I...I have no idea." The brothers sat in silence as they drank away their worries of what could be happening to their friend and 'ally' until Castiel returned with, hopefully, good news. Dean looked up at Sam, who was blankly staring at the floor, after he had finished his drink as he began to question what the angel could be doing. There was the possibility that he was telling the truth, and he really wanted to believe the man, but from his dead tone Dean guessed that he was lying to hide whatever the hell he was truly doing with his free time but he tried not to think about any of possibilities knowing that the angel didn't want him to find out the truth.

~Lost In Thought~

It had only been an hour when the angel returned with a small piece of paper in hand as he

Started speaking, not bothering to wait for the Winchesters to greet him as they turned to open their mouths.

"I found out where Lucifer has taken Gabriel, here." Castiel passed the sheet to Dean as he sat next to the human, the man trying his best not to ask as to why there were obvious tear stains covering his face.

"So let's get moving! We're not going to help the sorry bastard by just sitting here!" Sam was extremely surprised to see his older brother jumping to help the one who had managed to anger him so much, despite him not even being aware of the events as they happened. Sam jumped to his feet and waited for Castiel to fly to the destination ahead of them before asking his brother the question that had danced across his mind, only seconds prior.

"Hey, why are you so willing to save Gabriel after showing hatred towards him when we only mention his name, let alone his actions?" Dean walked towards the door, seemingly ignoring his brother, before grabbing hold of both sets of keys and took a glance over his shoulder before opening the door and staring at his car.

"It's because we owe at least something to Cas." Sam sighed at followed Dean as he walked out towards his car, he knew that his brother cared about the archangel and had shown a certain respect for him after he was killed by his brother. The younger hunter prayed to God that Gabriel was not only still alive but still in one piece, not only physically but mentally too. While Dean was getting into the Impala Sam made a quick text to Castiel, asking if he had gotten there safe and if there were any signs of warding.

"Hey! You gonna stand there and look pretty or get in here?" He jumped slightly as his brother honked the horn and raised a brow, his heart beating at an unimaginable pace as he tried to calm himself after the unexpected shock. Running a hand through his dark hair, Sam pulled open the passenger door and climbed in and watched as his brother started up his car and they drove off.

"Dean, I was wondering if I could have that sheet of paper real quick."

"Here, take it." Not even giving Sam a glance, Dean passed him the sheet, after taking a quick look at the location he started to remember seeing the name before and it didn't take him long to figure out why. This was where they found out the Trickster was actually Gabriel. Knowing it was in the middle of nowhere, and having gotten little sleep the night before, Sam decided to sleep and hopefully push away reality for a little bit longer.


	5. Fragile Minds

It was only when Dean had hit Sam in the shoulder that he woke up.

"Hey we're here." The younger Winchester rubbed his eyes and blinked repeatedly as his eyes struggled to get used to the blinding light that shone through the windows surrounding him.

"W-what? Where are we?"

"We're at the warehouse and Cas just went inside to see if Lucifer was in there and if we can go in so once he comes back out we've got to run in and get the pipsqueak and pray to God that he isn't too fucked up." Sam silently nodded and both hunters watched the large entrance of the large building, sitting on the edge of his seat a they waited for Castiel to reappear. And within minutes he had walked out of the dull building and nodded in the car's direction before flying into the back seat.

"C'mon let's go." The younger man looked at him before they both opened their doors and ran towards the boot of the car and opening it as quickly as they could, each man grabbing the first gun that caught their eyes, and then started sprinting towards the large building nearby after slamming it down as hard as possible.

Thoughts littered Sam's mind and he tried his best to mentally prepare himself for what might be on the other side of the doors which were drawing near. Once they were close enough to touch the door, Dean made a hand gesture to suggest that he stand to the side before kicking the door down.

"Sammy? Hey, hey, hey, you okay?" Unknown to Sam, tears were quickly sliding down his face as his brother suddenly changed his tone into a softer one.

"Y-yeah, come on." His voiced cracked horribly as he replied to his brother's question while Dean reached out and grabbed hold of his brother's shoulder and pulled him into a hug, aware that he was starting to freak out about the whole situation that they were about to walk into.

"No, you're not Sammy, look I know this is kinda freaky but we've dealt weirder stuff than this, haven't we?"  
"I-I suppose so...But if this entire situation was enough to scare Cas then what's it going to be like for us? What happened to Gabe that was so bad that it made Cas cry?" Dean sighed as he and his brother moved to crouch against the large doors they were about to enter.

"Remember Cassie is a little bit more sensitive than you or I and doesn't really understand human situations, so he might've interitated it completely different to the actual thing that happened." Sam gave his brother a pitiful look as both of them knew none of what Dean was saying was true, Castiel was the one that didn't really express anything and he was far from sensitive and never seemed to give to shits about anyone if they held no personal value to the guy.

"Thanks, I just don't even know why I'm feeling like this, we've seen a lot of messed up stuff and now I'm worried about a fucking angel and their basically untouchable."

"True, so what ya say we give it another shot?" Dean shot to his feet and pulled his brother up, with his free hand, and began to open the door.

Putting a finger to his cracked lips the older Winchester pushed open the door and froze, Sam reacting in a similar way as they stared at the buildings interior. Blood coated every surface, most of it was dry but some was still fresh and slowly trickling down the buildings walls and even dripped off the ceiling and making small blood puddles around the large area ahead. The smell was awful, it was as if someone had died in there. The urge to vomit filled Sam as his eyes drifted to the centre of the room where a small figure of a man with vast three wings covering his back, making it obvious that it was in fact Gabriel, the guy was in even worse shape than the room. Dull, golden feathers lay scattered around it and the wings, which had been rid of all feathers, were trying to move but only collapsed to the floor after seconds of lifting off of the cold concrete before a pained cry left the archangel. He appeared as though he were trapped in some sort of state where he was 'out of it' but he still showed some movement, other than shaking, when the sound of blood fell of the ceiling and collided with the concrete below and echoed throughout the large building, causing him to try and shift his weight off the ground again. The younger hunter tapped Dean's shoulder and pointed towards Gabriel, as bile rose in his throat, and both placed their guns by the entrance before slowly edging towards him and remained silent as they tried not to startle or frighten the angel before them. Sam held a hand tightly over his mouth as he moved closer while Dean copied his brother but started looking at every point in the room except for the area where the Trickster was. Bile rose is the younger hunters throat every time the damaged angel cried out in agony, causing him to stare at the floor briefly before realizing it was useless as he kept hearing agonizing screams echoing around him and lifted his head once more, his eyes fixated on the feathers scattered around the warehouse.

After having a quick conversation with Castiel on the way to the warehouse, Dean knew that angels were very self-conscious about their wings, so considering Gabriel had been rid of his feathers, which revealed a myriad of scars, it must've left him an insecure mess. However, he couldn't say anything to his brother or make any quick movements and texting was completely out the window after he realised Sam probably didn't have it on silent, and even if he did the sound could've disturbed Gabriel. As Dean shot a glance over towards his brother before changing his direction towards him so that he could have a slight chance of reaching him before he got to the wreck of an angel. However, he knew the chances of it actually happening was so slim, thanks to his brothers longer legs enabling him to take larger steps and move faster, but he didn't let that get him down. Luckily for Dean, Sam was trying to move as quietly and slowly as possible which allowed the older Winchester to reach his brother.

Sam jumped as he felt a hand roughly grip his tense shoulder, terror rising in him as he feared that the archangel might try to attack them if he shocked them out of his current state, he slowly turned around before seeing his brother as anger began to replace his fear. Despite Gabriel's weak state, it appeared as though the angel still had a bit of fight left in him which meant that he could still easily hurt them if they made him feel threatened in any way. Sam watched Dean mouth a sentence, his mind screaming that Gabriel was only a few feet away, but he soon stopped after he was hit with realization that his brother would have no idea what he was saying. Instead he reached into the pocket of his jacket in search of anything he could use to write with, remembering he had used a pen earlier, before shortly pulling out a biro. Sam raised an eyebrow as his brother was frantically writing something on his palm and raising it to his face.

'Don't touch or look at his wings!'

He gave his brother a strange look before directing his gaze at the floor once more, trusting that Dean had some good reason for what he was doing, and moved closer.

Sam struggled to think of a plan as he stood behind the shorter man, unsure of how to approach him without it ending in both of them injured, but he was quickly draw out of his thoughts as he heard the quiet beating of wings. He held a hand over his mouth, expecting a stomach wrenching scream but it never came, instead he had a hand drawing his own away from his mouth. Watching as the hand returned to its owner's side, he saw it was Castiel. Sam fixed his eyes with the angels, tears running down the angels face as he watched him walk towards his brother, grasping hold of his quivering shoulder.

"B-b-brother? A-are...Is-" The angel cut himself off as he realized Gabriel was looking him straight in the eye while frantically trying to break free of his hold, however he was struggling greatly as he lay on his side and his wings collided with the concrete below him which caused loud cries to replace Castiel's voice.

Both Winchesters were then able to get a closer look at their ally as they did their best to go unnoticed. He was lying on the floor shirtless as he clutched a jacket close to his scarred chest, with one of his hands as the other tried to keep his body off of the floor, his jeans were shredded and they revealed even more wounds, some were scarred over but most were fresh and still bleeding rapidly and they could both see his lips trembling as he tried to form words. He was obviously terrified as he struggled to move away and hide his wings behind him. Sam ignored Dean's advice from earlier as looked over Gabriel's bare wings and he realized that he wasn't hiding three of his wings, the rest weren't there, and the one's that remained were badly injured with one looking as though it were about to simply fall off, this only made him want to vomit more as he questioned why anyone would do this.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to calm down Gabriel, Castiel turned to the brothers and informed them of what he planned to do next.

"I-I'm going to take my b-brother back to the motel room and try to calm him down and heal his injuries to the extent I can." Tears were cascading down his face as he struggled to speak.

"Okay, we'll try and get back as fast as we can." Dean retorted almost immediately, trying his best to hide the concern and worry that tried to break through. The angel nodded before pulling his brother into a gentle hug, which he frantically fought against, and flying away.

Silently both men ran out of the building as the sound of footsteps resonated around, not wanting to spend a second longer among the blood coating the interior walls. Once they were both out they let out a breath neither had realised they were holding in.

"What the fuck was that?" Sam didn't reply. How could he? They had both just seen Gabriel as nothing more than as the broken mess his brother had left him in, and the shocking thing was that it had only been a few days since Lucifer had captured him. Either way they needed to help the angel quickly, and, with that thought in mind, Sam and Dean rushed to get in the car so that they could do their best to help the person who had died for their protection.

.


	6. The Road To A Better Day

Having the memories of that day's events fresh in his mind, Sam refused to sleep and even if he wanted to he wouldn't be able to considering how many thoughts were racing through his mind over the things he had seen. Gabriel was one of the most confident and optimistic people he had met over the years of being a hunter, which just made the sight of him broken down even more sickening, it was almost impossible to believe that what he had just seen was real but the one thing which made it feasible was that Lucifer was the one who had done this to him. The entire day seemed like it was some sort fucked up movie he was being forced to watch.

And he couldn't even begin to imagine how Castiel was feeling.

Every time they had seen the angel, since he had seen Gabriel, he was on the verge of tears and there was no doubt he was going to be in an even worse state after being in the same room as the archangel for however long it was going to take for the two hunters to get back. It was obvious that the angels had a close connection if their friend was willing to take care of the annoying archangel instead of letting the hunters drive him back. Not to mention he was very loyal to heaven so the idea of joining with someone who had not only betrayed heaven but also pretended to be a pagan god so that he could avoid the place.

Trying to put aside the ideas of how much Castiel and Gabriel were struggling, Sam directed his attention to the road ahead and at this point it was night and the dull lights of the impala were shining on the concrete. The younger Winchester recalled how they had left at dusk and began to relax as the surrounding area became familiar, realizing that it was the town that their motel was in. However, this idea did not comfort Sam, it only filled him with dread as they drew closer to their friends. Admittedly he had fucked with both brothers more times than he could count but the man had faced his family and died for humanity in the process, which was more what the other angels had done. Despite his concern for their allies, Sam still had questions for his brother trapped in his mind but he knew that asking them would be worthless because the older hunter was far too stubborn to answer it truthfully.

Only once Dean had parked the car was Sam pulled out of his thought induced daze, deciding to act against his thoughts the younger hunter asked his brother the question he had tried to push to the back of his mind while grabbing hold of the hunters sleeve to distract them.

"Hey Dean, do you actually feel bad for Gabe?"

"…"

"Dean? You okay?"

"No, after all the shit he put us through why the fuck should I start giving a damn about him just because he got on the wrong side of his brother!" Sam smirked to himself, his bother might've been able to trick Castiel into thinking he didn't care but he couldn't trick the person he had practically raised, he had still heard the slight hint of compassion in his voice, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Whatever you say, anyway, we should probably get inside. See how Cas and Gabe are doing." The hunter only grunted in response before prying Sam's fingers off his jackets sleeve and climbing out, slamming the door behind him as he did so. Lazily pushing open his own door, Sam almost fell out and walked off as a pissed of Dean closed his door for him, grunting as he did so, soon both hunters were slowly pushing open the door to their motel room.

Both men were greeted by Castiel's whispers, Dean moved to open switch on the light as the angel had obviously switched it off for Gabriel's benefit.

"Don't." Out of the darkness came the gruff whisper of their friend, the older Winchester quickly shying away from the switch as Castiel's figure came into view. Using the same tone as the angel, Sam spoke up and asked the question which had been

"So how's Gabe?"

"My brother…He's been better. You two should probably get some rest, you have both had a long day and I have put you under a lot of pressure under the last few days. I apologise that my brother is using one of the beds but there is still one bed, I'm guessing that you will have to share." Sorrow was slowly making its way across Castiel's face as he looked over towards Gabriel, sorrow reflected in his pale eyes.

"Well, thank you Cas, really."

"I should be on my way, I have some work to attend to elsewhere. I will come back and help you care for my brother when I can. Goodbye and thank you so much." Before either hunter could reply, Castiel had flown off, leaving the brothers alone with Gabriel.

"So I'm going to get some sleep, night!"

"But Dean, what abou-"  
"I honestly I couldn't give a shit about what you're saying, especially if it involves that annoying prick Cas left us with." Dean's whisper grew louder and angrier with every word and Sam decided it would be best if he gave up, he saw there was no use trying to change his brother opinion on what they should actually be doing at that moment, and joined his brother. Both men too tired to even remove their shoes, they walked over and collapsed onto the small bed they were now forced to share.


End file.
